the genus, at the molecular level Vanilla species are quite distinct. Classifications based on gene sequences from the nucleus, mitochondria and chloroplasts all support Vanilla as a monophyletic group within the tribe Vanilleae and place it as a sister group to the Pseudovanilla/Erythrorchis group. Both Vanilla and Pseudovanilla species are climbing plants, with adventitious roots and a shared ovary structure. Therefore, the morphological characters support this genetic classification. Only one phylogeny has been published that looks specifically at the genus Vanilla. It is also the only published phylogeny that includes V. polylepis. As with the most recent morphological phylogeny, it too shows that the groups Aphyllae and Foliosae are not true evolutionary groups. The genus is instead divided into three subgroups, which the authors have named alpha, beta and gamma. These groups seem to reflect geographical distributions, with alpha containing American membranous species, beta American fragrant species and gamma the old world and Caribbean species. V. polylepis falls within the gamma group and is again a sister species to V. imperialis. The inclusion of many Vanilla species in this phylogeny has allowed a much greater resolution of relationships between species. However, some of the species included are listed only by accession number and have not yet been given a full species name. Therefore, these species will need to be formally described and named in order to assess whether they are truly separate species or not. The overall results of this study however match well with the morphological classification of Soto-Arenas & Cribb (2010). Many species within the subfamily Vanilloideae are rare and others such as V. polylepis flower infrequently. As a result, there are still many gaps in the phylogeny of this group. Genomics may help to fill in the gaps and three Vanilla species have already had their entire genomes sequenced. Uses V. polylepis has no current uses outside of horticulture. However, as a close relative to the commercially important Vanilla planifolia, V. polylepis could be considered a "crop wild relative". A crop wild relative is wild plant species that is closely related to a cultivated crop plant. Lately crop wild relatives have received a lot of scientific attention as potential sources for crop improvement. For example, if V. polylepis were to possess useful traits related to pest resistance or drought tolerance, these traits could be artificially bred into Vanilla planifolia. This would produce stronger vanilla crops, better equipped